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Dsl Without A Landline?

I've been doing some financial housecleaning lately and wondered if my DSL would work without having a landline at home. I've talked to the phone company and of course they said "No, it requires a dial tone." Which to me sounds like a gimmick because a few months ago I neglected to pay the bill and got my phone disconnected (temporarily) but my DSL still worked even without the dial tone. The DSL even seemed to perform better (faster and more stable) for the few hours the phone was off.

Anyway, to spare writing a lengthy novel, if I canceled my landline, would my DSL still work?

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Could the phone company block you from using the line as a phone and allow DSL? You answered that question.
Will the phone Co. install DSL without you paying for a phone line, too? Want hurt to ask your phone company.
I am in a Bellsouth region and I know they offer different rates for DSL depending on what phone services you have. Check out the cable in your area if you haven't already.

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Depending upon service in your area,there are provders of standalone DSL. It does seem to run a bit higher $$ so I'm not sure of any advantage except in performance.2 examplesL@@KL@@K

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I don't think they were correct about having to have a dial tone. Telephone service and DSL service operate on different frequencies in the phone line. So actually, you probably wouldn't need a dial tone, since DSL never uses one anyway.

I guess I forgot to add that I am a Bellsouth customer myself. I live about 1/8 mile (maybe less depending on which odometer one uses) from the 502-896-**** exchange office my DSL goes through. I currently have 3.0 MBps download, and I would assume due to my close proximity to the office, it operates at about 2.5-2.9 MBps consistently.

I have also checked the cable rates, and with my current services with Bellsouth, I can't get a better price for cable internet alone, which in this area goes through Insight Communications. Also, Insight has been having a LOT of problems in this area as far as reliability.

Since I've been a Bellsouth customer for years (not to mention a former car salesman), I'm sure I can get them to drop the phone service without upping the price on the DSL; I just want to make sure my internet would still work without it...maybe even throw it in the CSR's face that I have it on high authority that it WILL work without a dial tone.

If they cut off the DSL then sure, I'll go cable. So, is it final then? Can DSL work without a landline? Thanks again!

In addition, DSL uses different wires than the ones the phone uses. The phone line uses wires in the middle of the cable, and DSL uses ones on the outside.

I know it is possible to have phone service by one provider and DSL by another if there isn't a monopoly in the given area. This would indicate that the phone service could be off, but DSL on.

The physical lines would have to stay in place: without them there cannot be a DSL connection.

I wouldn't go the cable route. Land phone plus DSL is still cheaper than cable. In addition, from what I've read, cable can get as slow as dial-up when a lot of people are watching cable TV. A land phone is also cheaper than a cell phone, so unless you absolutely have to have a cell phone, I'd get rid of the cell phone if you have one and keep the land phone.

Orange Blossom The unemployed penny-pincher

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In addition, DSL uses different wires than the ones the phone uses. The phone line uses wires in the middle of the cable, and DSL uses ones on the outside.

That's pretty much what I've been saying in a nutshell.

I wouldn't go the cable route. Land phone plus DSL is still cheaper than cable. In addition, from what I've read, cable can get as slow as dial-up when a lot of people are watching cable TV. A land phone is also cheaper than a cell phone, so unless you absolutely have to have a cell phone, I'd get rid of the cell phone if you have one and keep the land phone.

The speed of cable internet is not negatively affected in any major way by folks watching cable T.V.. The thing that causes slow downs is the fact that you share your internet connection with everyone else in the neighborhood. During peakage internet usage hours, your speed could (and most likely will) drop off, sometimes significantly.

Thanks Gary and Orange, you've made up my mind. And coincidentally, my landline and cell phone cost about the same per month, and since I'd rather have the mobility of a cell phone, out goes the landline. Thanks again for all your help!

I wouldn't go the cable route. Land phone plus DSL is still cheaper than cable. In addition, from what I've read, cable can get as slow as dial-up when a lot of people are watching cable TV. A land phone is also cheaper than a cell phone, so unless you absolutely have to have a cell phone, I'd get rid of the cell phone if you have one and keep the land phone.

Orange Blossom The unemployed penny-pincher

This is not an absolute. I have had cable since '97 and I consistently run 2.5Mb. I never noticed a fall off when the TVs are on. As far as cost I spend $35\mo less with VoIP than when I had POTS. I love it. Would hate to go back. Here you can get a package of digtal cable\internet\VoIP for $101\mo.

Thanks Gary and Orange, you've made up my mind. And coincidentally, my landline and cell phone cost about the same per month, and since I'd rather have the mobility of a cell phone, out goes the landline. Thanks again for all your help!

Your quite welcome!

acklan, cable tv's don't affect the speed of cable internet.It's the number of people using it at the same time in your neighborhood that effect it most. If you don't live in a densley populated area, you won't notice the samedecrease in speed that folks living in denser areas deal with.

acklan, cable tv's don't affect the speed of cable internet.It's the number of people using it at the same time in your neighborhood that effect it most. If you don't live in a densley populated area, you won't notice the samedecrease in speed that folks living in denser areas deal with.

I am quite aware of this fact. I was responding to a post from another member and what they reported they had read. While your statement in general is correct it also depends on the bandwidth allotted to the segment your neighborhood is on. In my case my segment is allotted 100Mbps and my connection it limited to 6Mbps. In a neighboring community a friend is on a segment that on has 10Mbps bandwidth and he is restricted to 4Mbps on his connection. It is the same company but the infrastructure in limited in his area. He seldom receives 500Kbps in peak hours, while I seldom have below 2,500Kbps. Not all connections are created equal, and while your local bandwidth may be outstanding the limits imposed by the server on the download side my limit your bandwidth more than what your current connection does. You can have ADSL with true 1.5Mbps bandwidth and say my friend with a 500Kbps connection and if DownLoad.com limits your download access to 250Kbps it is irrelevant who has the broadest bandwidth. you should read both my psot and the post I have quoted more carefully before making assumption of facts that were not stated. She did not refer to the number of users, but to the number of TV's accessing the system. By the way I do not think she was wrong just misinformed by the article she had read.

I said can get not does get. I wish I could find the article I was referring to as I'm sure it did include TV usage in addition to computer usage. That said, the technology may have changed since I read the article a couple years ago and television usage may not have the affect that it once had on cable internet speed. Obviously, the greater the number of computer users with the same ISP and internet connection type on at any given time will have a greater direct impact on speed performance for all those users.

Orange Blossom

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